History Literature / TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant

* LoopholeAbuse: In the Second Chronicles, Kasreyn's spell keeps the Sandgorgons magically imprisoned, with the loophole that if one's name is spoken, it will temporarily be freed to kill the speaker before returning to the prison. As a gambit to defeat Kasreyn and escape, Linden has Covenant summon Nom when she brings him out of his catatonic state. Kasreyn immediately buggers off and Nom arrives to kill Covenant. After Covenant fights it to a standstill with his wild magic, he points out that if Nom doesn't kill him, it doesn't have to return to the prison. Nom takes the hint.

** Several races at first, but the Last Chronicles subverts this by having them some of them turn good, and revealing that none of them were ''originally'' evil. [[BigBad Lord Foul]] on the other hand, definitely evil. With a capital E. Heck, with a capital V, I and L too. And the Ravers may actually be ''worse''.** In the Second Trilogy, Vain proves that ur-Viles were actually TrueNeutral, not evil.

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** Several races at first, but the Last Chronicles ''Last Chronicles'' subverts this by having them some of them turn good, and revealing that none of them were ''originally'' evil. [[BigBad Lord Foul]] on the other hand, definitely evil. With a capital E. Heck, with a capital V, I and L too. And the Ravers may actually be ''worse''.** In the Second Trilogy, second trilogy, Vain proves that ur-Viles were actually TrueNeutral, not evil.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Lord Foul and the Creator are either this for the Cosmos, or for aspects of Thomas Covenant's soul. The Last Chronicles reveals that one more also exists, [[spoiler:She Who Must Not Be Named (formerly Love, before Foul betrayed her). The existence of a fourth being who opposes the Lover in the same way that the Despiser opposes the Creator is posited by Covenant -- who terms said deity "Indifference" -- but this is never confirmed, presumably because if Indifference does exist, her reaction to the events in the Land would be a resounding "meh".]]

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* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Lord Foul and the Creator are either this for the Cosmos, or for aspects of Thomas Covenant's soul. The Last Chronicles ''Last Chronicles'' reveals that one more also exists, [[spoiler:She Who Must Not Be Named (formerly Love, before Foul betrayed her). The existence of a fourth being who opposes the Lover in the same way that the Despiser opposes the Creator is posited by Covenant -- who terms said deity "Indifference" -- but this is never confirmed, presumably because if Indifference does exist, her reaction to the events in the Land would be a resounding "meh".]]

* AscendedExtra: [[LoveGoddess Diassomer Mininderain]] and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Kastenessen]] appear only as characters in (possibly inaccurate) legends in the Second Chronicles. They're both key figures in the Last Chronicles.

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* AscendedExtra: [[LoveGoddess Diassomer Mininderain]] and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Kastenessen]] appear only as characters in (possibly inaccurate) legends in the Second Chronicles. ''Second Chronicles''. They're both key figures in the Last Chronicles.''Last Chronicles''.

** Linden in the Second Trilogy is ''literally'' called "The Chosen".** In the Second Chronicles, Findail is chosen by the other Elohim to accompany Linden and Covenant and eventually fulfill Vain's hidden purpose. Findail and the other Elohim know exactly what Vain's purpose is ([[spoiler:to fuse with an Elohim to form a new Staff of Law]]), and he is utterly depressed at the fate he has been "chosen" for.

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** Linden in the Second Trilogy second trilogy is ''literally'' called "The Chosen".** In the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', Findail is chosen by the other Elohim to accompany Linden and Covenant and eventually fulfill Vain's hidden purpose. Findail and the other Elohim know exactly what Vain's purpose is ([[spoiler:to fuse with an Elohim to form a new Staff of Law]]), and he is utterly depressed at the fate he has been "chosen" for.

** The waynhim in general -- creepy-looking creations of the [[OurLichesAreDifferent demondim]], wielders of the same BlackMagic as the ur-viles, and more-or-less a race of good Samaritans. [[spoiler:By the Last Chronicles, the ur-viles have decided that their cousins maybe had the right idea]].

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** The waynhim in general -- creepy-looking creations of the [[OurLichesAreDifferent demondim]], wielders of the same BlackMagic as the ur-viles, and more-or-less a race of good Samaritans. [[spoiler:By the Last Chronicles, ''Last Chronicles'', the ur-viles have decided that their cousins maybe had the right idea]].

** In the Second Chronicles, it turns out that [[spoiler:Linden]] can do this as well.** In the Last Chronicles, various powers can possess Anele depending on what he is standing on. As one of these powers is Lord Foul, "demonic" does not quite cover it.

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** In the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', it turns out that [[spoiler:Linden]] can do this as well.** In the Last Chronicles, ''Last Chronicles'', various powers can possess Anele depending on what he is standing on. As one of these powers is Lord Foul, "demonic" does not quite cover it.

* EitherOrProphecy: The prophecy of the white gold wielder is one of these; "With one word of truth or treachery he will save or damn the Land." In the first Chronicles, he manages to do ''both'' at the ''same time''.

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* EitherOrProphecy: The prophecy of the white gold wielder is one of these; "With one word of truth or treachery he will save or damn the Land." In the first Chronicles, ''Chronicles'', he manages to do ''both'' at the ''same time''.

* TheEmpath: A common power, but Linden in particular counts. In the first chronicles everyone is pretty much one of these, being able to sense the emotions of other as well as the general health and ''rightness'' of the world around them.* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: At the end of the Second Chronicles, Linden gets one of these due to both her role as TheEmpath and the fact that she's between the Land and our world.

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* TheEmpath: A common power, but Linden in particular counts. In the first chronicles ''Chronicles'' everyone is pretty much one of these, being able to sense the emotions of other as well as the general health and ''rightness'' of the world around them.* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: At the end of the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', Linden gets one of these due to both her role as TheEmpath and the fact that she's between the Land and our world.

* ForTheEvulz: [[BigBad Lord Foul]] wants to destroy the world so he can escape from the Arch of Time, but it is pretty heavily implied that even if he did not have to escape, he would destroy the world anyway out of sheer sadism. [[spoiler:The Last Chronicles hint that Foul himself might, so deep down that even he doesn't realize it, be driven by the despair of simply being what he is.]] The Ravers as well.

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* ForTheEvulz: [[BigBad Lord Foul]] wants to destroy the world so he can escape from the Arch of Time, but it is pretty heavily implied that even if he did not have to escape, he would destroy the world anyway out of sheer sadism. [[spoiler:The [[spoiler:''The Last Chronicles Chronicles'' hint that Foul himself might, so deep down that even he doesn't realize it, be driven by the despair of simply being what he is.]] The Ravers as well.

* GodsHandsAreTied: The Creator exists [[GodIsGood and is good]], but he cannot get into the Land himself without letting Foul out. As a result, he works through agents like Covenant and Linden, and usually appears to them as an old man before they are transported to the Land [[spoiler:except in the Last Chronicles]].

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* GodsHandsAreTied: The Creator exists [[GodIsGood and is good]], but he cannot get into the Land himself without letting Foul out. As a result, he works through agents like Covenant and Linden, and usually appears to them as an old man before they are transported to the Land [[spoiler:except in the Last Chronicles]].''Last Chronicles'']].

* MedievalStasis: And how! In the Second Chronicles, Covenant returns to the Land after ''four thousand years,'' and technology levels are essentially the same. It may be that the existence of magic and Lord Foul's machinations are responsible for the stasis. For example, in the backstory to the First Chronicles, Lord Kevin was the wisest and most powerful Lord in history. He sealed his vast accumulated knowledge in seven Wards of Lore before committing the Ritual of Desecration with Foul, setting advancement back thousands of years. In the time between the First and Second Chronicles, most of Kevin's Lore was recovered, then lost again, and the Land was once again devastated by the Sunbane.

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* MedievalStasis: And how! In the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', Covenant returns to the Land after ''four thousand years,'' and technology levels are essentially the same. It may be that the existence of magic and Lord Foul's machinations are responsible for the stasis. For example, in the backstory to the First Chronicles, first chronicles, Lord Kevin was the wisest and most powerful Lord in history. He sealed his vast accumulated knowledge in seven Wards of Lore before committing the Ritual of Desecration with Foul, setting advancement back thousands of years. In the time between the First first and Second Chronicles, second trilogies, most of Kevin's Lore was recovered, then lost again, and the Land was once again devastated by the Sunbane.

* {{Mutants}}: The magically created sort. Foul can use the Illearth Stone to twist living things into monstrous shapes, and uses this ability to create expendable mooks for his armies. In the Second Chronicles, being exposed to the Sunbane at the exact moment the sun rises will (unless you're touching stone at the time or are not native to the Land) trigger random mutations and drive you insane.

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* {{Mutants}}: The magically created sort. Foul can use the Illearth Stone to twist living things into monstrous shapes, and uses this ability to create expendable mooks for his armies. In the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', being exposed to the Sunbane at the exact moment the sun rises will (unless you're touching stone at the time or are not native to the Land) trigger random mutations and drive you insane.

* SuckOutThePoison: Covenant does it in the First Chronicles to a girl in the "real world". Linden does it in the Second Chronicles after TC gets attacked by Raver-Marid.

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* SuckOutThePoison: Covenant does it in the First Chronicles first chronicles to a girl in the "real world". Linden does it in the Second Chronicles ''Second Chronicles'' after TC gets attacked by Raver-Marid.

* WillNotTellALie: Lord Foul, though this is more about arrogance than honesty -- he thinks he doesn't ''need'' to lie to win. The scary thing is, he's mostly right. [[note]]The sole limitation seems to be that by his very nature, Foul doesn't understand some of the very Truths that he forsees. It's absolutely correct that Covenant chose to turn over his ring at the climax of the Second Chronicles. But not for any reason that Foul discerned.[[/note]]

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* WillNotTellALie: Lord Foul, though this is more about arrogance than honesty -- he thinks he doesn't ''need'' to lie to win. The scary thing is, he's mostly right. [[note]]The sole limitation seems to be that by his very nature, Foul doesn't understand some of the very Truths that he forsees. It's absolutely correct that Covenant chose to turn over his ring at the climax of the Second Chronicles.''Second Chronicles''. But not for any reason that Foul discerned.[[/note]]

** One "law" of traveling between The Land and the "real world" is that you will leave The Land in exactly the same physical condition in which you enter it. If you, say, have a broken leg when you enter The Land and then it heals when you are inside, something will happen to cause that leg to break again when it's time to leave. This becomes a big problem for Covenant in the Second Chronicles, because his entrance into The Land (at the beginning of ''The Wounded Land'') occurred shortly after his real-world body had been mortally wounded. Covenant knows what this implies, but Linden, who entered the Land while perfectly healthy, doesn't. In the Last Chronicles, Linden is in the same situation - having entered the land dying, she knows that one way or another she's there to stay.

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** One "law" of traveling between The Land and the "real world" is that you will leave The Land in exactly the same physical condition in which you enter it. If you, say, have a broken leg when you enter The Land and then it heals when you are inside, something will happen to cause that leg to break again when it's time to leave. This becomes a big problem for Covenant in the Second Chronicles, ''Second Chronicles'', because his entrance into The Land (at the beginning of ''The Wounded Land'') occurred shortly after his real-world body had been mortally wounded. Covenant knows what this implies, but Linden, who entered the Land while perfectly healthy, doesn't. In the Last Chronicles, ''Last Chronicles'', Linden is in the same situation - having entered the land dying, she knows that one way or another she's there to stay.

** One "law" of traveling between The Land and the "real world" is that you will leave The Land in exactly the same physical condition in which you enter it. If you, say, have a broken leg when you enter The Land and then it heals when you are inside, something will happen to cause that leg to break again when it's time to leave. This becomes a big problem for Covenant in the Second Chronicles, because his entrance into The Land (at the beginning of ''The Wounded Land'') occurred shortly after his real-world body had been mortally wounded. Covenant knows what this implies, but Linden, who entered the Land while perfectly healthy, doesn't.

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** One "law" of traveling between The Land and the "real world" is that you will leave The Land in exactly the same physical condition in which you enter it. If you, say, have a broken leg when you enter The Land and then it heals when you are inside, something will happen to cause that leg to break again when it's time to leave. This becomes a big problem for Covenant in the Second Chronicles, because his entrance into The Land (at the beginning of ''The Wounded Land'') occurred shortly after his real-world body had been mortally wounded. Covenant knows what this implies, but Linden, who entered the Land while perfectly healthy, doesn't. In the Last Chronicles, Linden is in the same situation - having entered the land dying, she knows that one way or another she's there to stay.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Deconstructed in the first trilogy. It turns out that nothing and no one is completely uncorruptible, and being ''nearly'' so makes you incapable of living with or recovering from corruption when you do succumb to it. Learning to live with a certain amount of shame and inadequacy without letting it either [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope drive you to all-out villainy]] or [[HeroicBSOD traumatise you into inaction]] turns out to be the key to victory for both Covenant and the Lords.

** [[WordOfGod Donaldson himself has stated]] that the reason for his... ''eccentric'' vocabulary in the series is to convey a feeling of alienness, to better put the reader in the mindset of Covenant and Linden, both of whom frequently feel like the sheer otherworldliness of the Land is an active assault on their senses.

* LastNameBasis: No one (including the narration) calls Covenant by his first name except for Joan. Linden notes in the third series that even when she and Covenant were lovers, it never occurred to her to call him "Tom" or "Thomas" - "Covenant" always fit [[TheFettered her perception]] [[MeaningfulName of him]] too well for her to call him anything else.

** Elohim is a word for God in the Hebrew Old Testament, but the word is actually plural in the original language. Elohim in the ''Chronicles'' are beings of pure Earthpower, the closest things to gods in the setting aside from Foul and the Creator.

** In the Second Chronicles, Findail is chosen by the other Elohim to accompany Linden and Covenant and eventually fulfill Vain's hidden purpose. Findail and the other Elohim know exactly what Vain's purpose is ([[spoiler: to fuse with an Elohim to form a new Staff of Law]]), and he is utterly depressed at the fate he has been "chosen" for.

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** In the Second Chronicles, Findail is chosen by the other Elohim to accompany Linden and Covenant and eventually fulfill Vain's hidden purpose. Findail and the other Elohim know exactly what Vain's purpose is ([[spoiler: to ([[spoiler:to fuse with an Elohim to form a new Staff of Law]]), and he is utterly depressed at the fate he has been "chosen" for.

* MedievalStasis: And how! In the Second Chronicles, Covenant returns to the Land after ''four thousand years,'' and technology levels are essentially the same. It may be that the existence of magic and Lord Foul's machinations are responsible for the stasis. For example, in the backstory to the First Chronicles, Lord Kevin was the wisest and most powerful Lord in history. He sealed his vast accumulated knowledge in seven Wards of Lore before committing the Ritual of Desecration with Foul, setting advancement back thousands of years. In the time between the First and Second Chronicles, most of Kevin's Lore was recovered, then lost again, and the land was once again devastated by the Sunbane.

to:

* MedievalStasis: And how! In the Second Chronicles, Covenant returns to the Land after ''four thousand years,'' and technology levels are essentially the same. It may be that the existence of magic and Lord Foul's machinations are responsible for the stasis. For example, in the backstory to the First Chronicles, Lord Kevin was the wisest and most powerful Lord in history. He sealed his vast accumulated knowledge in seven Wards of Lore before committing the Ritual of Desecration with Foul, setting advancement back thousands of years. In the time between the First and Second Chronicles, most of Kevin's Lore was recovered, then lost again, and the land Land was once again devastated by the Sunbane.

* RomanticizedAbuse: Played for {{Squick}}.[[spoiler:In the second book, it's revealed that Lena never completely recovered from having been raped, and was no longer entirely sane, imagining herself as having been in a romantic relationship with her rapist, even though he is on another planet and does not reappear for decades.]] She does seem to recover her senses [[spoiler:in the third book, once she discovers that their daughter is dead, and Covenant essentially let her die (and/or helped it happen)]].

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* RomanticizedAbuse: Played for {{Squick}}.[[spoiler:In the second book, it's revealed that Lena never completely recovered from having been raped, and was no longer entirely sane, imagining herself as having been in a romantic relationship with her rapist, even though he is on another planet and does not reappear for decades.]] She does seem to recover her senses [[spoiler:in the third book, once she discovers that their daughter is dead, and Covenant essentially let her die (and/or helped it happen)]].

* UndeadAuthor: Discussed by WordOfGod; certain fans noted in the Gradual Interview that the story of Kevin, Foul, and the ritual of Desecration somehow got out, despite the fact that the only people present were Kevin (who died) and Foul (who isn't exactly on the Lords' dinner invite list). Donaldson noted that the Ravers probably spread the story on Foul's orders, since he found Kevin's DespairEventHorizon deeply fulfilling (and amusing) and wanted everyone to know about it.

* UndeadAuthor: Discussed by WordOfGod; certain fans noted in the Gradual Interview that the story of Kevin, Foul, and the ritual of desecration somehow got out, despite the fact that the only people present were Kevin (who died) and Foul (who isn't exactly on the Lords' dinner invite list). Donaldson noted that the Ravers probably spread the story on Foul's orders, since he found Kevin's DespairEventHorizon deeply fulfilling (and amusing) and wanted everyone to know about it.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Clave have carefully crafted their public image to make people think they use their BloodMagic to protect the people of the Land from the Sunbane, and even most of their initiates don't know the real truth: [[spoiler: that their leader is a Raver, and they're actually making the Sunbane ''worse'' and enforcing a dictatorial rule on the Land in the name of keeping it safe, all according to the designs of Lord Foul]].

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* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Clave have carefully crafted their public image to make people think they use their BloodMagic to protect the people of the Land from the Sunbane, and even most of their initiates don't know the real truth: [[spoiler: that [[spoiler:that their leader is a Raver, and they're actually making the Sunbane ''worse'' and enforcing a dictatorial rule on the Land in the name of keeping it safe, all according to the designs of Lord Foul]].

** The insane ''elohim'' Kastenessen, Foul's partner in the third series, was forcibly converted into [[SealedEvilInACan a can for some sealed evils]] and has spent the last ten thousand years or so suffering while containing them. Now he's out, completely AxCrazy, and determined to repay his pain on his people, with the rest of the world as collateral damage if necessary.

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** The insane ''elohim'' ''Elohim'' Kastenessen, Foul's partner in the third series, was forcibly converted into [[SealedEvilInACan a can for some sealed evils]] and has spent the last ten thousand years or so suffering while containing them. Now he's out, completely AxCrazy, and determined to repay his pain on his people, with the rest of the world as collateral damage if necessary.

* PlanetOfHats: All the main races are rather hatty -- the Land's humans are all {{all loving|hero}}, the Giants are jovial but {{Badass}}, the Ramen all love [[CoolHorse the Ranyhyn]], the Insequent are wizards who WalkTheEarth, the Elohim are incredibly arrogant and think they have an OmniscientMoralityLicense, the Waynhim are TheAtoner, the Cavewights are AxeCrazy {{Mook}}s, the ur-viles are [[EnigmaticMinion enigmatic]] sorcerers, and the Haruchai are stoic [[ProudWarriorRace proud warriors]]. Of course, there are exceptions to all of these. WordOfGod notes that all the races, like the characters, were envisioned as archetypes; not all Giants (for example) are identical, but they ''do'' all draw on the same themes.

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* PlanetOfHats: All the main races are rather hatty -- the Land's humans are all {{all loving|hero}}, the Giants are jovial but {{Badass}}, badass, the Ramen all love [[CoolHorse the Ranyhyn]], the Insequent are wizards who WalkTheEarth, the Elohim are incredibly arrogant and think they have an OmniscientMoralityLicense, the Waynhim are TheAtoner, the Cavewights are AxeCrazy {{Mook}}s, the ur-viles are [[EnigmaticMinion enigmatic]] sorcerers, and the Haruchai are stoic [[ProudWarriorRace proud warriors]]. Of course, there are exceptions to all of these. WordOfGod notes that all the races, like the characters, were envisioned as archetypes; not all Giants (for example) are identical, but they ''do'' all draw on the same themes.

* TaughtByExperience: The Giants from the homeland in the second trilogy are extremely awed by the wisdom that the Unhomed earned through their loss of home, and have a respect for Tom being dubbed "Giantfriend" by them.

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